Use our free felt cactus pattern to make one of these adorable stuffed plants! These DIY felt cactuses are super cute and really simple to make, the perfect easy sewing project for beginners.
Real cacti might be prickly, but a felt cactus is soft and cuddly! You can decorate your sewing table and use your felt succulent as a pincushion, or simply place it on a shelf or mantel. They also make a fun housewarming or hostess gift!
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How to Make a Felt Cactus
Materials:
- FREE Printable Felt Cactus Pattern
- Felt (green)
- Sewing thread (white or green)
- Fiber fill stuffing
- Clay pot(s)
- Dried kidney beans (or other pot filler)
- Pink pom pom
Equipment:
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut the felt cactus pieces
- We have 3 different felt cactus templates available.Print one of the patterns (find the link in the materials list above!) and cut out the shape.
- Hold the pattern piece on top of the green felt to cut it out.You can also pin the pattern to the felt to make it easier to cut, or trace around the template with chalk or a gel pen.
Step 3: Sew 2 layers of felt together
- Place 2 pieces of felt together, one on top of the other, and sew them together with a blanket stitch.To do this, begin by putting your needle up through both layers of felt and pulling the thread until you have a 1 to 2 inch tail. Tie the tail to the thread in front in a double knot.
- Tuck the excess thread between the pieces of the cactus and bring your needle back up, about 1/4 inch away from the last stitch.Wrap the thread around the needle before pulling it through.
- Repeat the blanket stitch around the outside of the felt pieces, leaving the flat bottom part open.Finish off your thread by going back and forth through the last stitch a few times.
- Repeat, sewing 2 other pairs together.
Step 4: Connect the felt pieces
- Set the 3 sewn pieces in a pile and align well.
- Sew the pieces together, up the middle, with a backstitch.Begin by pushing the needle down through the layers of felt, leaving a 1 to 2 inch tail. Bring the needle back up, about 1/4 inch away, and tie the thread to the tail, forming a double knot.
- Work your way up the cactus by bringing your needle forward/up at the front and back down to the previous stitch at the back.
- Continue until the top of the cactus and finish your thread by going through the last stitch a few times before cutting the extra.
Step 5: Stuff and close off the cactus
- You should now have 6 little "pockets" in your cactus. Add stuffing to the first section.You can use a pencil or chopstick to push the stuffing up, if needed.
- Repeat, stuffing all parts of the cactus until it's firmly stuffed.
- Sew the bottom of the cactus together with a running stitch.Go back and forth between the two open sides, sewing them loosely together.
Step 6: "Pot" your felt cactus
- Fill a clay plant pot about 1/2 way full with rocks or dried beans.
- Set the felt cactus into the pot and add more beans around it to keep it in place. (Spooning them in may be easier than using your hand.)
- Add a dot of hot glue to the top center of the cactus.
- Place a pink pom pom "flower" into the glue.
- Your felt cactus is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Instead of using pom poms, cut out small flowers from felt and glue or sew them on.
- You can also use puffy paint to add little spikes to your felt cacti!
- You can even embroider a face on your felt cactus to make it super kawaii.
Get our free printable felt cactus pattern:
The link and picture below will take you to our free, printable felt cactus patterns! The 3 page PDF file will open in a new window. Then simply print the template of your choice on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper.
>>> Felt Cactus Templates <<<
Do I have to sew the felt cactus together?
We do recommend sewing the felt cactus together. The seams give the cacti a cute look, and it makes the plush cactus a lot stronger.
But if you don’t want to sew, you can use hot glue to connect the cactus pieces together. Follow the same basic instructions, and then add a generous amount of glue to connect each layer together in the center.
Be careful not to push the felt too much as you stuff the cactus, since glued felt is not as strong as sewn felt. Glued edges can separate with repeated handling or play, but as long as your cactus is just sitting on display it should be fine.
What size felt cactus do the patterns make?
We have 3 sizes of felt cacti for you to make. Felt cactus #1 (the one we made in the tutorial above) is 5 inches tall (including the pom pom) and about 4 inches across.
Felt cactus #2 (tall cactus) is 5-3/4 inches by 3 inches. And felt cactus #3 (short and wide) is 3-3/4 inches by 4-1/2 inches.
Scale the pattern up or down while printing to make cactuses of different sizes.
What stuffing is best for a felt cactus?
We like to use poly-fill, a polyester stuffing, to stuff our felt crafts. But you can also use stuffing from an old pillow – or even buy an inexpensive pillow at the dollar store to use.
You can stuff your felt cactus with cotton balls, old t-shirts or socks, or bits of scrap fabric. Make sure you cut the fabric bits small to prevent the cactus from looking lumpy.
What type of felt is best for making a felt cactus?
We made our felt cactuses using soft craft felt. This felt is inexpensive and easy to find at the craft store, making it great for kids crafts. Synthetic felt is quite thin, and it pills easily if you handle it a lot. (Which shouldn’t be a problem for these cacti since they’re decorative).
If you want a really good quality felt cactus, you can use wool felt, or a wool felt blend. Wool felt is more expensive, but it doesn’t pill, and it’s very soft and durable. It also tends to have a really beautiful texture compared to synthetic felt, which will give it a “higher quality” look.
There’s no need to water a felt cactus, making it the perfect “plant” for people without a green thumb. And there’s no need for direct light, making this plush plant a great office companion!
Here’s even more felt craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
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